Brazen, heartless, conniving. Pick an adjective and it would describe scammers pretending to be a law enforcement officer or bail bondsman preying on the fears of an unsuspecting victim.

Fraudsters have been calling people saying their relative is in jail, and to give them money to get them out of lockup, according to Lake County Sheriff’s public information officer Stephanie Earley.

All of the calls have come from out of state or outside the county.

At least two local people have been victimized, she says.

In one case, the victim sent $400 through a cash app. In another case, the would-be victim balked and received written threatening messages.

In one instance, the caller asked for gift cards, another sure sign of fraud.

The criminals scan the sheriff’s websites for names, then use social media to track down relatives.

To stop the practice, the sheriff’s office has changed its jail inmate website. In the past, everyone who was arrested had their mug shot posted with their name and other information.

“Now it’s search by name only,” she says. “Since the website has changed we’ve not received any calls for service.”

Other Central Florida law enforcement agencies have also made changes.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office has said on its website that the scheme has showed up in its area, with callers “claiming to be a deputy or jail official saying your loved one can be released soon but you must pay for their ankle monitor first through Venmo, Zelle, or Cash App.”

Law enforcement doesn’t call demanding immediate payment or through cash apps or Bitcoin, and ankle monitors are not paid for by families over the phone.

Finding the crooks is difficult. Sometimes they use stolen identities.

Earley urges people to verify the caller’s identity, by going to Google to get legitimate phone numbers and check it out.